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Ladle taking chicken noodle soup out of a red pot
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Chicken noodle soup

Comforting homemade chicken noodle soup.  So perfect for winter.
Course Soup
Cuisine American
Keyword chicken noodle soup
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes
Servings 6

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken
  • 12 cups water
  • 2 ½ tsp salt more or less depending on taste
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 large carrots chopped
  • ½ onion diced
  • 2 celery ribs diced
  • 2 cups noodles of choice any short cut pasta will do
  • 1 tbsp olive oil or butter
  • ½ tsp dried thyme

Instructions

  • In a large stockpot, place chicken, 12 cups of water, 1 bay leaf, and 1 tsp salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a gentle boil, and simmer partway covered for about an hour.
  • When chicken is finished cooking, remove, allow to cool, and debone chicken and reserve two cups of chicken for soup.  Set aside. The rest of the chicken can be used for another meal.
  • Strain broth and reserve eight cups for this soup. If you have any leftover, use for another meal.
  • In an empty stock pot, heat 1 T. olive oil or butter. Add carrots, onion, and celery and cook under crisp tender.
  • Add 8 cups broth, an additional 1-1.5 tsp salt depending on your preference, thyme, and a bay leaf. 
  • Bring to a boil and add in noodles. Cook until noodles are al dente.
  • The last few minutes of cook time for the noodles, add in 2 cups chopped reserved chicken. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.

Notes

The chicken and broth can be cooked ahead of time to make this a quick weeknight meal of around twenty minutes.